Magic and Mechanics: crafting the perfect short story (In person)
Magic and Mechanics is the innovative new publication from groundbreaking short story publisher Scratch Books, which, like previous publications Reverse Engineering I & II, brings together contemporary stories by some of the very best writers working in the form today, alongside interviews with those writers about how their stories were written.
Contributors to the book, Camilla Grudova, Mark Haddon and Amber Medland join fellow short story writer Irenosen Okojie to disassemble their work and reveal the processes, inspirations, instincts and ideas behind the construction of their perfect short stories.
This anthology will inject writers with creative adrenaline and provide short story readers with a new slant of light into the craft. - The Irish Times
Camilla Grudova is Canadian writer who lives in Edinburgh. She has published two short story collections, The Doll's Alphabet and The Coiled Serpent and a novel, Children of Paradise. Her fiction has appeared in The White Review and Granta. She holds a degree in Art History and German from McGill University, Montreal. She was named as one of Granta’s Best British Novelists 2023.
Mark Haddon is a writer and artist. His bestselling novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003) won seventeen literary prizes, was translated into 36 languages and went on to become an award-winning stage adaptation by Simon Stephens. His most recent works of fiction include a novel, The Porpoise (2019) and a collection of fables and stories, Dogs and Monsters (2024). His most recent book, Leaving Home: A Memoir in Full Colour, will be published in February 2026.
Amber Medland's debut novel, Wild Pets, was published by Faber in 2021 and her most recent book Attention Seeker: The Truth About ADHD was published by Dialogue Books in 2025. She has been published in The New Yorker, the London Review of Books, The Paris Review, the TLS, the Guardian, the Telegraph, the FT, the Irish Times and the Drift. She was part of the inaugural cohort of The London Library Emerging Writers Programme.
Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian British author whose work pushes the boundaries of form, language and ideas. Her novel, Butterfly Fish and short story collections, Speak Gigantular and Nudibranch, have won and been nominated for multiple awards. Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, she was awarded an MBE For Services to Literature in 2021. She is the director and founder of Black to the Future festival and her latest novel, Curandera, is published by Dialogue Books.
Scratch Books are a publishing house dedicated to the craft of short stories. Previous collections have included Reverse Engineering I & II and Duets.
Magic and Mechanics will be available to buy at the event and online from Scratch Books.
This event will take place in person at The London Library. Doors (and the bar) will open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Please see our Event Access Guidelines before you arrive.
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